‘Yid Army’ row: Why Spurs chants aren’t racist

As English football lurches from one toxic racism row to another in a cathartic bout of introspection, issues of prejudice that were around long before Luis Suarez, John Terry and Mark Clattenberg have regained significance.

Anti-semitism undoubtedly falls into that category and any attempts to banish it from the sport, like all racial abuse, should be applauded.

But if you were to compile a list of the most offensive football songs on the terraces today, Tottenham supporters’ now totemic chant of ‘Yid Army’ would not come close to the top 1,000.

I am a Jewish Tottenham fan. I don’t sing ‘Yid Army’ at games. But neither do I find it offensive. Likewise, I have never known any fellow Jewish Spurs supporters to voice any hint of disapproval.

That is not to say that the word ‘yid’ does not carry hostile and extremely abusive connotations. If someone directed the word at me in a menacing fashion, I would take offence.

However, I have no doubt that Tottenham fans of all creeds and colours are not being even remotely anti-semitic when they sing ‘Yid Army’.

If you’re looking for places where anti-semitism still exists on the terraces, then Tottenham is the very last place to start.

In fact, the history and context of how the moniker came into being suggests it was a response to, rather than a cause of, racism.

I do not think this issue is straightforward. Just because I am not offended by the ‘Yid Army’ chant, doesn’t mean that others might not be, whether they are Jewish or not.

It is fair to say that while most of the fans who use the chant are not Jewish, some are. But of course the fact that some of those who shout ‘Yid Army’ are Jewish does not of itself absolve the chant of any possible perception as abusive.

Another argument is that if Tottenham fans chant ‘Yid Army’, then it could be argued that they cannot complain about opposition supporters shouting ‘Yiddos’ at them. And if a Jewish fan of another club uses it, does that mean it is OK?

These are not insignificant arguments but raising the issue of anti-semitism in football grounds by focusing on a chant sung by Spurs supporters is, frankly, ludicrous.

Tottenham fans have borne the major bulk of anti-semitism in football for decades, being the targets of some of the most bilious and hateful behaviour seen on the terraces.

It may have taken on the status of an tribal war cry in recent years but as Tottenham themselves pointed out in response to Society of Black Lawyers chairman Peter Herbert’s criticism, the ‘Yid Army’ chant has developed over decades as a ‘defence mechanism’ in response to genuinely abhorrent and hostile anti-semitic abuse from other supporters.

I have been fortunate enough – in more than 20 years of following the club – not to have witnessed or been on the end of the most egregious examples – such as hissing to replicate the sound of the gas chambers during the holocaust.

But it seems to me that if Spurs supporters had not suffered such bilious anti-semitic invective in the first place, the ‘Yid Army’ chant may never have been created.

Thankfully, I don’t believe that level of horrific anti-semitism is widespread in football any longer. But if you’re looking for places where it still exists on the terraces, then Tottenham is the very last place to start.

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